The paradox of relational development is not universal: Abstract reasoning develops differently across cultures

Alexandra Carstensen, Radboud University

Caren Walker, University of California, San Diego

Abstract

Recent studies demonstrate a puzzling decline in relational
reasoning during development. Specifically, 3-year-olds fail in a relational
match-to-sample (RMTS) task, while younger children (18-30 months) succeed
(Walker, Bridgers, & Gopnik, 2016). Hoyos, Shao, and Gentner (2016) propose that
older children fail because of a bias toward individual object properties induced
by “avid noun learning.” If this is the case, children learning a
language with a stronger emphasis on verbs, like Mandarin Chinese, may show an
attenuated decline in relational reasoning. We first test this possibility by
reproducing the causal RMTS task in China, and find that Mandarin-speaking
3-year-olds outperform their English-speaking peers in the U.S. In a second
experiment, we show that Mandarin speakers exhibit a corresponding bias toward
relational solutions while English speakers prefer object-based solutions in an
ambiguous context. We discuss possible mechanisms through which language and
culture may promote (or hinder) the early development of relational
reasoning.